High-level layoffs loom at N.Y. Times

1/11/13 1:01 PM EST

The New York Times may be forced to lay off a number of editorial staff, including high-level editors, according to staff sources.

The speculation around the newsroom, first reported by New York Magazine's Joe Hagan and confirmed by POLITICO, is that managing editor John Geddes, assistant managing editors Jim Roberts and Rick Berke, dining editor Susan Edgerley, and former Times Magazine editor Gerry Marzorati could all be casualties of the Times' effort to cut costs.

In early December, executive editor Jill Abramson offered buyouts to staff in an effort to cut 30 newsroom positions, but said she would be "forced to go to layoffs" if they could not secure the necessary buyouts. So far, only culture editor Jonathan Landman and reporter Jacques Steinberg have publicly accepted the offer, though others have done so privately.

But sources at the Times say not all of those buyouts voluntary. One newsroom source told POLITICO that Landman told his staff that he was told to take a buyout.

"That's one way Jill is reducing headcount and remaking the newsroom," the source said. "But that's not the only way. Some people are leaving entirely of their own accord."

In a memo to staff today, Abramson denied rumors that layoffs were imminent: "It is NOT true that we already know that interest in the buyouts won¹t be robust enough to prevent involuntary measures," she wrote. "In the event that we do not get the numbers we need in this round and we do need to go to layoffs, no Guild members will be affected. (Don¹t believe anything you hear to the contrary)."

New York Times spokesperson Eileen Murphy did not respond to a request for comment.

Earlier today, Inside Climate News reported that the Times is dismantling its environmental desk, though managing editor Dean Baquet said the move did not mean that any of those staffers would be laid off.

UPDATE (1:11 p.m.): Murphy emails:

We’re not commenting on this process while it is ongoing (as you know, the deadline for these newsroom buyouts is not until January 24).